Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Science and Technology

In 1957, at the height of the Cold War nuclear arms race, 22 scientists from 10 countries gathered in the small Canadian fishing village of Pugwash. Many were leading architects of the technologies underpinning their governments’ national security programs, including several who had contributed to the development of the world’s first atomic weapons under the Manhattan Project. Now, they were grappling with the sense that they had lost control over the technologies they had helped create.

The founders of the Pugwash conference heeded calls from philosopher Bertrand Russell and physicist Albert Einstein, two of the 20th century’s most prominent intellectuals, to “appraise the perils” arising from the development of weapons of mass destruction. Over the course of the next seven decades, the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs convened thousands of scientists and experts from around the world in more than 400 symposia and workshops. The movement received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

In 1957, at the height of the Cold War nuclear arms race, 22 scientists from 10 countries gathered in the small Canadian fishing village of Pugwash. Many were leading architects of the technologies underpinning their governments’ national security programs, including several who had contributed to the development of the world’s first atomic weapons under the Manhattan Project. Now, they were grappling with the sense that they had lost control over the technologies they had helped create.

The founders of the Pugwash conference heeded calls from philosopher Bertrand Russell and physicist Albert Einstein, two of the 20th century’s most prominent intellectuals, to “appraise the perils” arising from the development of weapons of mass destruction. Over the course of the next seven decades, the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs convened thousands of scientists and experts from around the world in more than 400 symposia and workshops. The movement received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

In 2026, the convergence of artificial intelligence and biotechnology poses a similar existential threat—and demands a similar response. In June, AI industry leaders warned that AI could erode the knowledge barriers that have historically kept biological warfare at bay and urged U.S. lawmakers to establish stronger safeguards for synthetic DNA and RNA.

Joseph Rotblat, the founder of the Pugwash movement, upon hearing that he was to be awarded the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.

Biosecurity, however, cannot be managed through national action alone. It requires international cooperation, which has been weakened in recent years by stalled and defunded multilateral efforts. As geopolitical rivalry erodes prospects for global cooperation, alternative methods of diplomacy must begin at the source: scientists themselves.

Through the Pugwash movement, scientists developed a technical foundation for nuclear risk reduction and arms control that could be implemented when political conditions permitted, building the knowledge and relationships that made later nuclear arms control agreements possible.

As modern technological change outpaces governance, track-two scientific engagement can similarly provide a vital safeguard against catastrophic risks. The Pugwash model offers enduring lessons for........

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